Three seek Senate seat

By TIM UNRUHSalina Journal

Saturday

Oct 8, 2016 at 12:01 AMOct 8, 2016 at 10:00 PM

Two attorneys, one a career Republican politician and the other a Democrat and a rookie to elected office, are vying for a U.S. Senate seat, along with an electronics technician who is running as a Libertarian.

Incumbent Jerry Moran was born in Plainville and challenger Patrick Wiesner in Ellis, both in northwest Kansas. Today, both live in eastern Kansas, along with Libertarian Robert Garrard, of Edgerton.

Moran and Wiesner would like to reduce the national debt and soften the influence of lobbyists.

Garrard wants lower taxes, less government involvement in the lives of Americans and greater adherence to constitutional rules.

Federal money and how it’s spent is a big deal to Wiesner, and that’s why he’s seeking office.

“I want to be the senator who stops the giveaway of our tax dollars to the clients of well-connected lobbyists,” Wiesner wrote in response to questions from the Journal. “The incumbents in Washington, both Democrats and Republicans, vote on spending bills that they haven’t read. They never pass budgets on time or in surplus. That irresponsibility ends with me.”

Big issues to Wiesner include “lack of manufacturing jobs; a farm policy that inflates land prices; the pending insolvency of Social Security and Medicare; the unaffordability of health insurance premiums for the self-employed; the rampant increase in student loan debt; the widespread non-payment of taxes owed; and the lobbyists’ control over the U.S. Senate,” he wrote.

Wiesner promises to reach out in the Senate to bring about change.

“I need to persuade a bipartisan majority of senators that reversing the deficit spending culture of Washington and then paying off our national debt is a moral obligation to our children,” he wrote.

“I need to lead the Senate toward solving problems now instead of putting them off year after year.”

Less government needed

Garrard ran for office in an effort to make his views heard in the federal government.

“No one in the Senate represents those of us who want lower taxes, less involvement in foreign wars, less government manipulation of the economy and stricter enforcement of constitutional limitations on government use of force against innocent Americans,” he wrote. “Six of the 10 wealthiest counties in America are those surrounding Washington, D.C., despite the fact that little or no productive work is done in D.C. In fact, much of what is done there is counterproductive to the economy and destructive to the security of average Americans.”

Garrard will encourage more with his mindset to join him.

“My goal is more freedom and less government. I need 30 more Libertarians in the Senate to help me block overspending and harmful legislation that will otherwise be passed by Republicans and Democrats, and I need Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson to be elected president,” Garrard wrote.

Veterans a priority

Incumbent Moran hopes to keep working for improvement in Washington.

“Kansans are concerned that our nation is going off-course: out-of-control spending threatens our national security and our children’s future, and high taxes and burdensome regulations make it hard to start and operate a small business,” he wrote. “Kansans are looking for principled, conservative leadership that will actually solve these problems. That’s who I am, what I’ve done, and what I will continue to do.”

A lack of financial discipline in government gnaws at Moran.

“The greatest threat we have to being able to pursue the American Dream is the debt and deficit,” he wrote. “Spending trillions of dollars that we do not have undermines economic growth today while dumping a massive financial burden on our children and grandchildren.”

Improving life for nearly 250,000 veterans in Kansas is a top priority, he wrote, “especially at a time when thousands of troops are returning from battle and the needs of aging veterans are increasing. I am committed to keeping our promise to those who have served our country.”

Both major parties are to blame for the “dysfunction in Washington,” he wrote, “as Democrats and Republicans often seem more interested in scoring political points than solving problems. There are critical issues facing our nation that demand action. I’m convinced a lot more would get accomplished if members of Congress spent more time listening to those who elected them rather than lobbyists in DC.”

— Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by email at tunruh@salina.com.

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